Ready or not, here it comes! Effective January 1, 2017, the 3-year transition period regarding the use of antibiotics in food-producing animals is in full effect.

Small farmers and backyard producers that have been relying on OTC antibiotics to treat outbreaks of disease will no longer be able to get commonly used products without the involvement of a veterinarian. Back in December 2013, the FDA issued final guidance for the animal health industry to remove all growth promotion claims from feed...and transition to RX-only for all water-soluble and liquid antibiotics that are classified as important in human medicine...by the end of 2016.

You will no longer be going to your local feed or fleet store and picking up a bag of CTC crumbles, or a packet of soluble antibiotic without a veterinary feed directive (VFD) for the feed, or a script from your veterinarian for product to be used in water. Over the counter products currently approved that are administered by injection or bolus are not included in this guidance change and will remain available without a prescription for the foreseeable future.

So, what are you to do?  Get to know your local veterinarian!

If you routinely rely on antibiotics to keep your animals healthy, you will need to have a relationship with your veterinarian. They will not be able to help you unless you have a valid client-patient relationship and are familiar with your animals or farm. You will see new products come on the market that is based upon prebiotics, probiotics, egg-based antibodies, as well as natural anti-infective compounds.

Look for these products to replace many of the items that have been used for decades. These products will work well but will require some homework ahead of time to determine which will perform the best for you and your animals.

Expect a wide variety of new over-the-counter introductions to the market from Durvet between now and the end of 2016. These items have been developed to fill the needs of producers as many antibiotics change to RX or VFD. If you're looking for some material to read regarding these changes, simply do a web search for FDA documents GFI #152, GFI #209, and GFI #213 for a complete history back to 2003.

Here are a few examples of products that became script as of January 1, 2017:

For alternative products, Durvet offers: